Pews News

I was hoping for more snow today. I was hearing 18". I think we got 8. But it's better than the nothing we had. Sure didn't feel like a Sunday today without church. It really is the anchor of my week.

Here's a picture Sharon took off our back deck. Snow still falling, clouds overhead, and the sun peaking through just before sunset behind the hills to the west. Beautiful.

From one of this coming Sunday's readings:

"The heavens are telling the glory of God;and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words;their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth,and their words to the end of the world." (Ps 19)

So I guess there was some church for me to go to today.​

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. I am much impressed by the fact that this pastor led a nation to see better who we are called to be. His Christian faith led him to be an unstoppable force of betterment, not just change, but change for the better. That's what faith can do, should do.

MLK was a man of faith and a man of The Book. In his speeches, Bible comes out naturally and authentically. How appropriate it is that we are meeting tomorrow evening at 7PM on Martin Luther King Day to continue reading from Mark's Gospel in our Bible Study Group.

​It's a long weekend. We weren't able to gather for our Sunday church Service this weekend, but we can still come together over God's Word. I hope to see you then.Rev. Randy.

I was Ordained in April 1985 and tomorrow will be the first Sunday since that day that I have not gone to church. This storm better be as real as the forecasters are predicting. I worry though that sometimes they get all excited about the possibility of the biggest storm. They take out their fancy interactive maps, computer models and graphics, they get ready for outdoor shots with the wind blown snow battering the poor reporter, and they act like New Englanders have never survived a foot of snow before. And then we're hit with something less. But in the interest of safety, we have cancelled our Sunday Service for tomorrow, January 20th.

But we can survive, all is not lost. We can still give a Sunday morning hour to Jesus anyway. This Sunday remains the Sunday within the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," which is a program of the World Council of Churchs, and the UCC is one of those churches. I think its purpose is evident.​Here are the prayers that we could have shared in together tomorrow. Maybe we can offer them up in our own homes, but still together in spirit:

And here is the sermon that I would have liked to share with you in person:

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14)

This is the Sunday within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This is a worldwide event called annually by the World Council of Churches, and the United Church of Christ is a member of this ecumenical organization. This year’s theme is "Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue ..." from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.

I imagine that the word justice sounds good and pleasing to everyone, but I imagine as well that the definition of justice could lead to all sorts of arguments. There are law and order proponents of justice. There are social activist proponents of justice. I dare not even talk about the definition of justice here in church when it comes to the particulars of, for example, The Wall because it is so divisive that it could actually harm the congregation.

This same separation of word and definition comes into play when we talk about unity. What does Christian unity mean? Well, one thing is for sure, unity does not mean the same thing as uniformity. In other words, we don’t have to all be the same for unity to be real.

That amazing first-generation Christian by the name of Paul makes this perfectly clear. He lays the foundation for Christian unity by emphasizing the diversity of gifts that the one Holy Spirit shares among believers.

Jeff read these words for us today: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Unity may actually be opposed to uniformity. Unity is the profound appreciation for a deep connection that is not marred by lesser differences. Look at the change in your pockets. You’ll see there the old motto of the United States: e pluribus, unum, which is Latin for “out of the many, one.” Unity is not destroyed by diversity. I would even say that it’s made stronger.

Hitler talked about a thousand-year reign for his pure Aryan race. He never even made ten years before the world united to destroy his hatred, but the diversity of “out of the many, one” is still here and is still inspiring.

Or take today’s Gospel story of Jesus at the wedding feast in Cana. So many wedding couples choose to have Pacabel’s Canon played on their big day, but this piece probably would not be a cellist’s first choice of favourites. It’s basically one line repeated forever.

The cellist falls asleep while playing this piece as the processional because it’s boring for him. Then he has this dream of being able to play something much more exciting where the cello’s part is vibrant and changing. Toward the end of the video he wakes up from his daydream and everyone is staring at him. He shakes off the sleep and starts playing that one melody all over again and the wedding procession resumes.

Diversity makes music appealing. The same note, the same phrase played continuously is just noise, not music. It’s the diversity that holds a composition together.​So Jesus is at this wedding feast in Cana. It’s still a wedding even if Pacabel’s Canon isn’t being played. I’ve seen a cartoon that says, “Jesus helps throw a party for a few people and the world’s still talking about it 2,000 years later.” But Jesus really did save that party.

He’s there with His friends, and His friends are a different lot. We don’t know much about the disciples, but what we do know tells us that Jesus attracted a group of followers that otherwise would have little to do with each other.

Simon is sometimes called the zealot, a fervent nationalist, a hater of all things Roman. Matthew is a tax collector for the Romans. These are as unlikely friends as Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren. But they’re sitting together at the wedding with Jesus.

Peter and Andrew are brothers, and so are James and John. Both sets of brothers are fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. Did they get along as toilers of the same hard profession, or were these two families competing against each other? We don’t know, but they’re together at table with Jesus.

Philip and Nathanael are friends and they may both hail from the village of Bethsaida. There seems to be a tradition of tension between Bethsaida and Jesus’ hometown. When Philip tells his buddy Nathanael about Jesus, Nathanael’s immediate response is: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And yet, the two of them are at the wedding in Cana with Jesus of Nazareth.

Those first followers were a diverse group, but that very same diversity may have made them strong enough to outlast the threats and turmoil that tried to destroy Christianity before it really got started. ​Each of the disciples was different. They probably heard Jesus differently. And eventually, they preached Jesus differently.

One of the things we talk a lot about at Bible study group is that the biblical writers approach Jesus from their own perspective. The Jesus we see in John’s Gospel, for example, is definitely not the same Jesus that Paul preaches. And yet it is all of those different voices that come together to form our one Bible about our one Saviour. Their diversity makes their witness stronger.

Or think about our church here. Paul spoke about a diversity of gifts all flowing from the same Spirit and for the common good. Think about how many people fit into the different necessary slots of our congregation to make it work.

One person is gifted with the ability to serve as a Trustee, another on Benevolence, another as a Deacon, another in the choir, another in the Sunday School, another among Real Folks, another as a Steward, another at meals, another as greeter, and so on. ​All of these diverse gifts, says Paul, are shared by the same Spirit for the common good of building the church of Christ. When we meet for our Annual Meeting [now next Sunday], don’t think about that gathering as only about money, reports and vacancies. We gather for the common good and the Spirit will be there to share God’s gifts with us. We may not think that we’re up to the work of this or that church position, but maybe the Spirit thinks differently. Trust in the Spirit. We don’t do church work on our own – ever.

And in closing, on this Sunday within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, lets remember that unity is not uniformity, that the differences among denominations are not about right or wrong, better or worse. Those differences help to make the church stronger so that all people may find the particular home where they may worship most comfortably and effectively, but all of that worship glorifies God and hopefully inspires us.​Let’s celebrate our Christian diversity and our Christian unity, and for this may we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Enjoy the snowday, but try and find some Sabbath time for Jesus.​Rev. Randy

Started in 2009, Rerun Shoes was created to help people here in the US and in other parts of the world re-cycle old shoes. In addition to providing shoes (in good condition) to children and families in the neediest nations, their shoes provide opportunities to micro-businesses throughout the African continent.

Rerun Shoes is a nationwide charitable organization, but its home-base is right here in Florence, MA. To learn more about this organization, please visit their website: www.rerunshoes.com.

Not all shoes can become Rerun Shoes. Shoes that have too much wear, or don’t have a need in African countries (i.e., winter boots), won’t make the cut. Here are the shoes that they look for and welcome: athletic shoes, men’s shoes, women’s shoes (no high heels please), children’s shoes and sports sandals (please no flip-flops or Crocs).

A collection container has been placed inside the front entrance of the church. So if you have old shoes in decent shape that are only taking up space in your house, please bring them by the church for collection and distribution to those who would so much love to wear what we have outworn.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps 19:14)​The other night I was watching a lecture about physics. The professor who was giving the lecture teaches at Cambridge University in England so this guy knows his stuff. He was talking in the same room at the very same desk as world famous scientists have taught from for centuries.

​And he was talking about some pretty weird stuff.

There are these everywhere-present quantum fields, for example, and they move like waves, like a fluid, and these fluid-fields are all around us. We are passing through and interacting with them right now without even noticing, and these fields become the building blocks of stuff when they’re agitated in just the right ways.

That’s the amazing insight of Einstein that stuff is just another form of energy.

The math and science behind some of these weird ideas are currently beyond human understanding, even the understanding of a scientist who teaches at Cambridge University in England.

As an example of this, he showed a video image of a super computer’s animation of the activity of the quantum fields inside a small vacuum of space. It was churning and changing constantly. Particles were coming into existence out of nothing and disappearing just as quickly back into nothing. And that’s all in empty space, a vacuum.

But even in emptied space, the quantum fields that are still there take a supercomputer to figure out what’s going on. Imagine, he then asked, how complicated it is to do the same equations with stuff inside the box, and then what if that box was the size of the universe.

And he was all excited. He was excited about what was known, but he seemed even more excited about what was not yet known, what was yet out there to be discovered, about the possibility of one of those “aha moments” when the light goes on and something is seen for the very first time.

He was all excited about the process, not only the answers, but the process. He was giddy over the thought that the next answer would be closer to the truth.

I think that’s why I like science even though I can’t do the science.

If I had one bedrock complaint about religion, it’s that too often religion forgets or dismisses the excitement, the challenge and the purpose of discovering something new. We think truth is already found and explained, and all religion has to do is repeat it.

Well, that gets boring real fast.

Then, religion can become lifeless, or at least not a part of my life. It’s somebody else’s era, somebody else’s questions, somebody else’s answers, somebody else’s “aha moment.”

And we can forget that we’re supposed to be seekers. Each one of us. That’s why I’ve always found a great deal of inspiration in Isaiah’s words that Marcia read for us today: “I have called you by name, you are mine” This passage was one of my own “aha moments” when I felt Jesus talking to only me. Faith is meant to be deeply and intensely personal, a first-name basis with God, a relationship of on-going discovery.

And of course there are more “aha moments” waiting for each of us. The physicist in Cambridge was trying to understand creation and was baffled. We’re looking beyond that creation for the Creator.

The physicist was all excited about discovering the mysteries of the world around us. We’re looking at that and the world beyond our world. How have we let this become dull and predictable?

In last Sunday’s newspaper, in Parade Magazine, famous people were asked how they spend their Sundays. Mark Hamill talked about a more elaborate breakfast; Matt Damon about sports with his father; Caitriona Balfe, maybe you know who she is, talked about breakfast but then being dragged off to church; John Legend spoke about relaxing with family; Meredith Vieira about walking along the Hudson River; J.K. Simmons loved sleeping in and then exercising. Nobody spoke about Sunday and church in a good way except Tyler Perry, and his was only in the past tense.

How come breakfast and sleep, exercise and conversation are exciting, but God on a first-name basis can become dull?

So Jesus of Nazareth is about 30 years old. He’s the son of a carpenter and He’s a carpenter Himself. Something is gnawing at His soul. He’s searching for something, but not sure what. He leaves His family, community and business behind and walks some 90 miles by Himself.

He’s looking for John the Baptist.

Jesus accepts baptism from John. It was a profound moment for Jesus. Luke says Jesus is in prayer and all of a sudden it was like the heavens opened.

This is Luke’s depiction of Jesus’ “aha moment.” Jesus realizes that He is God’s beloved Son. This is His moment of discovery. Jesus is not the same anymore.

This is new, and Jesus is changed by it. Not changed as in becoming something He wasn’t before, that would deny the whole beautiful and powerful message of Christmas, but changed in the sense that He now knew better who He was.

He discovered something about Himself and His first-name relationship with God.

When scientists make a discovery, they’re not changing creation, they’re getting to know it better. That’s what’s happening at Jesus’ baptism.

But sometimes I hear religion trying to make this boring, that Jesus is only giving us an example to follow when He accepted baptism, that it wasn’t all that surprising or inspiring for Him, that He already knew fully who He was and was only waiting for the right time to give us an example to follow.

Why do we do these things? Why is religion afraid of a Jesus who has “aha moments”? And why don’t we better encourage our own “aha moments” when it comes to faith?

We don’t need to be afraid of questions. We need to be afraid of being afraid to ask questions, as if our faith wasn’t strong enough to handle them.

This is where discoveries are born. This is when we can approach closer to truth.

Faith is exciting. The perfect God is calling us somewhere and that somewhere is yet to be discovered. Church can be a part of this spiritual journey. I hope it is.

That Cambridge scientist was seeking, but his journey was moved forward by those who came before him, and also those who worked with him. Our faith, our spiritual journey, also needs those who came before us and those around us, and that’s church.

Let’s be seekers. Let’s realize that God has called us by name. And let’s look for our “aha moments” when we discover what being this close to God means, and let's walk that journey together. For this may we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

"If you will fear the Lord and serve him and heed his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well; but if you will not heed the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king."

Kindness for Kids (K4K) is a charitable program sponsored by our church’s Benevolence Committee. Its sole purpose is to help the students at the Hatfield Elementary School. Sometimes a family may face a financial difficulty in one way or another that would hinder or prevent their child(ren) from participating in a school or after-school activity. Our K4K donations are entrusted to the school administration for disbursement. When the school recognizes such a need in a student, the administration may decide to use K4K funds to assist the family.

A Valentines themed Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser is planned for Saturday, February 9th from 8:30 – 10:00am in the church dining room. A card-making table will be set-up so that our younger attendees may make a card to share with someone they care about. A suggested per ticket donation for the breakfast is $8.00, and of course additional donations will be accepted with a smile.

​Tickets may be purchased at Hatfield Congregational Church on Sundays or reach out to Melody or Rev. Randy. Please make checks payable to “FCC Hatfield Benevolence Fund.” Tickets may also be purchased online by copying and pasting this link in your browser: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/valentines-day-breakfast-fundraiser-tickets-54183905520. This breakfast is open to the community at large.

We are working in conjunction with the Hatfield Elementary School and with Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church. If you would like to help work this breakfast, please contact Rev. Randy or Melody Edwards: (413)320-2089/mephany@hotmail.com.

We also wish to thank the Hatfield Fire Fighters’ Association. After their very successful summer bonfire, they donated a majority of the proceeds to benefit the Town of Hatfield and also to some charitable organizations outside of town. As part of this giving campaign, the Fire Fighters Association chose to donate $1,000 to the K4K program! Again, we thank them for their generosity.​

The young people of our Christian Education program are participating in the annual Souper Bowl of Caring national food drive. If we are blessed enough to splurge on Super Bowl snacks, then please think about those who struggle just to provide food for their families. The food drive culminates on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3rd. Thank you for your Christian generosity.

Culminating on Super Bowl Sunday

The young people of our Christian Education program are participating in the annual Souper Bowl of Caring national food drive. If we are blessed enough to splurge on Super Bowl snacks, then please think about those who struggle just to provide food for their families. The food drive culminates on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3rd. Thank you for your Christian generosity.